Good Shabbos Email - Chabad of Peachtree City

EMOR- GIVING IT TO THE ORTHODOX

Friday, April 26, 2013 - 2:43 PM

FOR EMOR

GIVING IT TO THE ORTHODOX

Last Shabbos, at our “Turn Friday Night Into Shabbat” Program, a participant posed the following question to me: “What is the difference between the ‘Orthodox’ and ‘Chabad’”?

This person knows that I cringe when people use labels to define who they are. Judaism does not come with “tags” and “brands.” Over the past century since these words were invented, they are generally used to categorize and split people. This is divisive.

As it was the holy day of Shabbos, I was attired with my typical black hat and long black coat. All this is in addition to my regular appearance, which does nothing to hide my … Read More »

ACHAREI KEDOSHIM- A WEEK OF TERROR; A COUNTRY OF LIFE

Friday, April 19, 2013 - 2:41 PM

FOR ACHAREI-KEDOSHIM

A WEEK OF TERROR; A COUNTRY OF LIFE

Explosions, chaos, worry, injuries, death, terror. It has all been hoisted upon this country again during this past week.

As of this writing, the suspects have yet to be apprehended. But it does not matter how this ends. The damage has been done. Bloodthirsty, demented and loathsome cowards have sown, yet again, their version of pure hatred on the innocent.

People are dead, and hundreds have been mutilated and scarred for life. Millions more have been reminded of how much work is left to be done in this world.

It is difficult to make any sense of such matters. It is actually impossible to rationalize such abhorrent actions. Yet, somehow, go… Read More »

TAZRIA METZORA- THE PURITY OF EXCITING LIFE

Friday, April 12, 2013 - 2:38 PM

FOR TAZRIA-METZORA

THE PURITY OF EXCITING LIFE

A couple of years ago, following the festival of Sukkos in the fall, I took up an agronomic mission. One of the festival’s rituals involves willow branches. I reckoned that having my own willow tree would allow the branches to be readily available for personal harvesting. I would be set for the festival for years to come. It did not take long for a solid stem to branch out of the flower pot. In time, I was hoping to plant the contents of the pot into the ground and enjoy a tree filled with willow branches.

In the ensuing couple of years, our plans included moving to a new home. It would have been unproductive for me to plant the contents of the flowerpot in the … Read More »

SHEMINI- NO BITING INSECTS

Friday, April 5, 2013 - 2:36 PM

FOR SHEMINI

NO BITING INSECTS.

When Rabbi Israel Spira was confined in the Janowska Concentration Camp – right on the border town of Lwów, Poland (today Ukraine) – it did not matter that he happened to be a Chassidic Rebbe, a Chassidic master, of the “Bluzhov” dynasty. He was treated like the rest of the Jewish people incarcerated there as slave labor.

Each morning at dawn, the Germans would force all the inmates for line up and counting. The Nazis would then lead them out of the camp for another day of hard labor in the carpentry and metalwork factory. Their day ended only at nightfall. A giant saw was given to each pair of unskilled workers. They cut the logs for use in the factory… Read More »